Hampi- is situated on the banks of river Tungabhadra . It was the capital city of Vijayanagara kings and was then a very prosperous, grand and wealthy city . It even attracted traders from Persia and Portugal. The city is full of rock cut sculptures and monuments. The whole city is surrounded by boulders and rocks of different shapes and sizes and this would have encouraged the kings to shape this city into a beautifully carved structure. One can see and feel how the the craftsmen would have toiled hard to construct and put together each piece of art to perfection to be only destroyed later by the Muslim rulers . There are lot of monuments here and one shouldn't miss this at any cost. All are protected monuments coming under UNESCO World Heritage. One can easily spend a couple of days leisurely visiting the monuments.
Virupaksha is Lord Shiva and this temple stands tall among the ruins of Hampi and is believed to be the largest functioning temple since 7th century. Lord Virupaksha's consort is Pampa Devi, a local Goddess and is associated with river Tungabadra. The huge temple complex was built by a chieftain king called Lakhana Dandesha under Deva Raya II of Vijayanagara Empire. The temple attracts huge crowds in December during the temple festival. The temple has a multi-tiered Raja gopuram and this temple has about 3 Nandis in Nandi mandapam. The temple is embellished with carvings, paintings and beautiful sculptures.
Hampi is 350 Kms from Bangalore and there are good hotels in Hampi but we chose to stay in the nearest town Hosapete which is 15 Kms from Hampi.
